Those Times We Weren't Saving The World
by TheElephantInThePrideParade
Summary: HERE HAVE SOME FLUFFY/FUNNY ONE SHOTS. ALL CHARACTERS. (Filter Characters are selected based on the most recent chapter.) Enjoy whatever I feel like posting while I work my way through my HP crossover and Pax Lunae sequel. XD. CH4: Setsuna's first morning as a 21st century person...
1. Mario Kart

Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon. But I'm gonna write these anyways so enjoy :)

AN: Here, have some fluffy/funny one shots while I work my way through Pax Lunae and write that gawd damn companion/sequel that is turning into a goliath sized fic.

Mario Kart

The sailors do love to congregate at Hikawa Shrine, and the Penthouse, and recently at Makoto's pastry shop (no surprises there). But ever since Ikuko and Kenji have been in on the secret, the Tsukino household has become a particular favorite.

Because Usagi, Chibiusa, and Shingo have the best collection of video games.

"Not such a star in virtual reality, huh Tenoh?"

"I'm gonna whup your ass Aino, just you wait." Haruka growls, steering her cart up a ramp to grab a power pack. She presses her thumb down hard on the 'B' button and jets shoot out the bottom of her avatar's cart. Wario flies past Princess Peach and Minako curses as he does.

"Oh no, now she's gaining on me!" Usagi whines, frantically clicking buttons on the controller. Her Bowzer Avatar swerves to cut Haruka off, knocking her cart against the side of the track. "YES!"

"You've still got me to deal with." Shingo says as his car pulls past Minako and inches up on Usagi.

"Ohhhh. Shitshitshitshit."

" _Language"_ Ikuko shrieks from the other room. Usagi groans.

"Aw hell yeah, am I really beating Sailor scouts? I am! Ha! I can't wait to tell Kara."

"Got a crush on my sister now, Shingo." Minako fires at the 13 year old as she gets her cart back in front of Haruka.

"If I could just get Suna to program a World Shaking into this you wouldn't be so cocky." Haruka mutters as she tries to steer her cart back on course.

"About that," Ami pipes up.

MERCURY ICE BUBBLES FREEZE scrawls across the bottom of the screen.

"What?" chorus the four other players.

From the center of the track, a stream of bubbles races towards the leading cars, freezing Haruka and Minako in their tracks.

" _FuckingshitMizuno!"_

" _Amiwhyyyyy"_

" _Language!"_

" _Butbubutbutbutbut – that's not allowed!"_ Shingo says as the ice on his tires sends his cart careening off a cliff.

" _Noooo….you're supposed to let me win!"_ Usagi cries as her cart skids on a sheet of popped bubbles into a wall, with a force that sends the avatar glitching.

Ami's cart zooms past all four of them.

"I may have made a few upgrades."

"Wait is that Vanellope from _Wreck-It_!" Minako stares.

Ami shrugs. "That took some extra time but – yeah."

"How?"

"Well," Ami says as she smirks at them, "I was quite tired of being Luigi all the time."


	2. The Contact List

AN: Not your traditional stab at a song fic...let's just say the muse (well, okay, Minako) was begging me to please put this character study in fic form. There are some English songs, there are some j-pop songs. there's one k-pop songs. Nothing's sung all the way through and all the Japanese and Korean is written in Romaji because I'm assuming the majority of you will appreciate at least being able to read how they sound (and I'm assuming as well that the roman script is more internationally friendly). Enjoy, tell me what songs you'd pick for each of them if you could (also remember these are Minako's choices. I have several of my own).

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary...Clearly I don't own...sigh...fiiiiine. **I solemnly swear I will not: change a few names add terrible, controversial sex scenes, and sell this on Amazon...unlike some other people... ;)**

The Contact List

Rei's first impression of Minako's new phone is that it is obnoxious - first of all, it is an iphone. Second of all, the Venus symbol is bedazzled on the back in orange sequins. "Could you be more obvious about it." she once complains to Mina.

"Puh-lease," Minako scoffs. "I don't know if you noticed, by we are the height of pop-culture. Everyone wants to dress like us" She winks at Rei. "I could go to school as Venus and they'd just reprimand me for not having the right uniform."

"I still can't believe you bedazzled your phone."

"Hey hey - no mocking the smartphone," she says putting a finger to Rei's lips and silencing her since the touch leaves her too flustered to talk. "After all, it needs to live up to my fabulousness."

~ _ttwwstw~_

Her second impression only cements her opinion. They're in the middle of a study session - and they only just got Usagi to freaking focus on her maths work, when a loud melody makes them all jump. She's got her Sailor wand in hand before she realises it's a song.

 _"dakara motto motto motto haruka kanata_

 _fumikomu ze akuseru kakehiki wa nai sa sou dayo"_

"Sorry!" Minako says, scrambling to get her phone out of her bag. "It's Haruka - Hello. Yes, yeah. yeah. I'll be there. On time. Okay." She says, hanging up. "Sorry...she's teaching me to drive and wanted to tell me when to meet."

"What was that ringtone?" Makoto asks. "The tune's familiar…"

"'Haruka Kanata' Asian Kung-Fu Generation" Minako says. "It was...fitting."

"You have a personal ringtone for Haruka?" Usagi asks.

"I have one for everyone," Minako asserts. "Everyone gets a song."

And suddenly Makoto and Usagi are reaching for their phones aiming to call Minako's but the Scout of love immediately turns her phone off.

"Uh-uh...you're all just going to have to find out what they are - or guess and I'll tell you."

"Why couldn't you just put it on vibrate like a normal person?" Rei sniped.

"Oh come on, Rei." Minako grins as she reaches over to push her lightly on the arm. "Ringtones are fun! And people love figuring out what they are. - In fact," she declares, "the first person to figure out which song everyone has - I mean the sailors of course - that person gets a prize!"

"Prize!" Usagi grins, clapping her hands. "What prize?"

"If you guess them all - whatever you want."

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

She isn't even planning to compete...until Makoto comes to the shrine to talk about it.

"Rei...you're good at English right?"

"Sort of," she shrugs. Sure, she has the highest marks in her class, but that doesn't mean she's good in practice. "Why?"

"Because that's what Setsuna's song is in," Makoto complains, lounging on the temple steps. "She called Minako today about whether she could watch Hotaru and Chibiusa...and the song was English. I was so gonna guess it otherwise - But here she says, reaching into her pocket for her own phone. "I got Mina to play it again so I could record it - If you help me, and I win, we can split the prize."

"I wasn't even playing," she complains to Makoto. But she accepts the phone anyway and plays the recording.

 _"I've been looking through my window_

 _At somebody else's world_

 _And you let me fall_

 _Right through your open door_

 _You came and saved me you saved me from myself"_

It takes her a few listens to understand the words, and when she does it's a little unsettling...why is this Setsuna's?

"I have to look it up later," Rei says to Makoto.

The song bugs her for the rest of the day, and since the temple does not have a router installed, she goes to a nearby Internet Cafe to look up the lyrics.

She's calling Minako as soon as her search is up.

"Skunk Anansie's 'You Saved Me'" she says without preamble.

"Oh, so Mako-chan came to you about Setsuna's," Mina chuckles on the other end. "Isn't it a beautiful song?"

It is. "It's sad," she tells Mina. "Why would you pick that one for Setsuna?"

"I won't call it sad per say….okay so it's a bit melancholy. I don't pick them cause they're happy songs Rei-chan. I just pick them cause they fit."

"And it's also kind of…" she scans the lyrics on the PC screen again. "Romantic."  
"Well duh." Mina chuckles on the other end. "Have you seen her around Haruka and Michiru lately. She could give Makoto's lovesick glances a jog for their cash."

"Run for their money," she corrects Mina gently, smiling.

"Oh you know what I meant..."

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

The next one she hears is Michiru's and entirely through her own manipulation. She's ahead of everyone else by a song and is starting to feel a bit too invested to back out now.

So she texts Michiru one Friday afternoon to ask if she could please call Mina.

 **Kaioh M: all right, speaking of, you're watching Hotaru next weekend...I have plans...**

A second later Minako's phone is blowing up, not with lyrics, but with violin music. The tune is familiar….from back when her mother was alive and she'd listen to this music whenever her father brought the cassettes or CD's back from trips.

"I swear that's Freddie Mercury….as a violin cover." she tells Mina.

"Yes…" Minako nods to her as she listens to Michiru talk. "Wait - what...uh." she holds the phone away from her as Michiru hangs up. "Aparently I'm babysiting Hotaru with you." Minako sighs. "Whatever, do you know the Freddie Mercury song?" she asks Rei.

"It's..." she checks her phone...a new text from Michiru. "'I Was Born to Love You.'" she says, blushing.

 **Kaioh M: You're welcome ;)**

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

Minako has no choice but to reveal Ami's - she loses her phone while they're out shopping one day and Ami's the first one to call it.

 _"Sairen ga hibiite_

 _toozakatte kieta_

 _tekagami ni utsutta"_

"SNoW!" Usagi shouts at the same time as she and Makoto say "'Bleach!'"

"That was an easy one," Minako huffs as she digs her phone out from under the Ice Cream Bar. "Makoto and Rei get it."

"That's an...interesting choice for me," Ami says.

"I guess my reasons are entirely my own," Minako winks.

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

Afterwards, Mina's very careful when they're all together to leave her phone on silent. "It would be way to easy otherwise." But she does leave the ringtones enabled during school hours and Rei's just caught up with she and Usagi for lunch when a new ringtone bursts to life.

 _"Some people talk about you_

 _Like they know all about you_

 _When you get down they doubt you_

 _And when you tipping on the scene_

 _Yeah they talkin' about it"_

"Hey, Mako-chan...uh huh. uh huh. Actually, you gave it away to Rei and Usagi… haha. Oh my god tickets to - yes, YES! Sign me up!" She giggles as she pulls the phone away from her ear and stuffs it in her pocket. "Three words: Music. Festival. Tickets." She grins. "And we're all going - I love the school raffles."

Rei laughs quietly, then hums the tune of the ring tone so she's sure she'll remember it later.

"Why do you have so many English songs?" Usagi asks.

Minako ponders, twirling her hair as they walk. "Dunno… It's half and half, actually. I have a couple favorites from my time in England. Setsuna's was new when I lived in London - loved it...and this one is from a girl I found online - on one of those "recommended artists' lists. And!" Minako declares clapping her hands together "All her music is amazinggg!"

Usagi beats her to the Internet Cafe on their way home after school, but she gets the song first, smirking as Usagi spells the English lyrics wrong for the fifth time. She texts Minako

 **Hino R: Janelle Monae, "Tightrope"**

 **Aino M: Damnit. I thought that one would be hard!**

 **Hino R: Not with the internet...why did make you pick that one?**

 **Aino M: You got what it's about. Right?**

 **Hino R. Um…. not caring what anyone else thinks. Which is just like Makoto.**

 **Aino M: Exactly. lol. Sometimes i pick them cause i like the songs. But sometimes i chose the ones that...reflect traits i see in people...or how i feel about them.**

 **Hino R: And what about me?**

 **Aino M: Ha! Nice try ;) guess you'll have to hear your ringtone to find out.**

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

She keeps the list of them in her pocket just to see if there's any kind of pattern

 _Haruka - ASIAN KUNG-FU GEN. "Haruka Kanata"_

 _Setsuna - SKUNK ANANSIE "You Saved Me"_

 _Michiru - FREDDIE MERCURY "I Was Born To Love You" violin cover_

 _Ami - SNoW "Bleach"_

 _Makoto - JANELLE MONAE "Tightrope"_

 _Chibiusa - ?_

 _Hotaru - ?_

 _Usagi - ….Mina's "Route Venus"_

 _Me - ?_

There is no pattern to discern, but she's sure Usagi's has to be Mina's own hit single "Route Venus." after all, Minako had written it to express her choice of duty over love. And Usagi _was_ her duty. Plus it was so upbeat, perfect for the Bun-head. She grew more sure whenever she looked at the list that she'd at least know that one without having to hear it.

She's got the list in her hand and is pondering any kind of pattern when Usagi pops her head into the shrine.

"I found out Chibiusaaaaa's!" she squeels. "Tell me mine - I know you know - I'll trade you."

"You first," she challenges Usagi. "So I can check if it's right."

"Fiiiine." Usagi sighs, "Momoiro's "Mirai he Susume."

"Mina's 'Route Venus' song." she mumbles, flicking out her phone at the same time Usagi does so that she can check with Mina.

 **Aino M: Mirai he Susume is right - & stop tricking Usagi XD**

"Hey," Usagi pouts. "She says you're wrong."

Rei frowns. "I...I mean I guessed, but..."

"Guessed!" Usagi cries. "But I want the pwiiiiize."

Rei placates her by offering her tea and cookies, even though her mind is elsewhere. _Why wouldn't Mina assign "Route Venus" to Usagi?_

 _ttwwstw_

The night they babysit Hotaru is also the night Hotaru calls ahead to ask if she can please bring over her new favorite movie. They're cooking dinner in Mina's kitchen when she calls.

 _"Barami jangnaneul chil ttaemyeon nareul kkok butjabajwoya hae tto naraga beorilla_

 _Geureoke gugimyeon keunil na nan mareopgo chakhae boyeodo jajonsimi senikka"_

"That's K-Pop!" she laughs as Minako talks to Hotaru. "You hate K-Pop."

"I know," Minako sighs as she hangs up the phone. "But it's Hotaru's favourite band. I tried to give her j-pop. I swear. but the songs. just. wouldn't. fit."

"And it's "Paper Heart" by f(x)."

"Damnit!" Minako curses. "You've gotten nearly all of them now haven't you."

"Well not Usagi's...and not mine." She grins back. "Speaking of...did you give anyone songs that you wrote."

"Uh…" Mina hesitates, eyes trained intently on the sauce she's stirring. "Only one in the entire phone, I think."

"Is it...one of ours."

"Mayyyyybe." she smirks. "Not. Telling."

~ _ttwwstw_ ~

She's sure "Route Venus" is Usagi's. Maybe Minako had only lied to Usagi to throw her off the trail. There's no way her biggest hit isn't someone important.

But the phone rings shortly after Mina arrives for study time one day, and she jerks her head up at the lyrics coming from the speakers.

 _"Moon Pride!_

 _Anata no chikara ni naritai"_

"Uhuh," Minako says as she answers, Rei staring up at her intently. "Yes...yes I have a copy. yeah. haha. No problem."

She sighs and hangs up the phone, trying to pass it off as nothing "Just...someone asking if I have a copy of the homework."

"It was Usagi asking," Rei says cooly, "I can't believe I didn't guess it before - the tribute song Momoiro did to us - "Moon Pride.'"

"You've caught me," Minako sighs, plopping down next to the coffee table. "There it is you've gotten all of them."

"Not mine,"

"Well…" Minako grins. "I think I can amend the rules. You don't need to know yours."

Rei frowns "Well I still get any prize I want, right?"

"Uhhh..." Minako stammers, looking all around the room as if there's anyone else around to get her out of this. "You already know what you want."

"Yes." Rei demanded. "I want to hear mine.

Minako stares at her for a very long minute, and the whole shrine is eerily quiet, before sighing and sliding her phone into the middle of the table.

Rei wastes no time calling it.

 _"ono doa akete"_

She freezes because that's Mina's voice coming through the speakers. "'Route Venus" is _mine_?"

 _"Nokori jikan ga_

 _Suikomareteku_

 _Hitomi wo agete"_

But this is...different from the version she knows (laughing and bubbly in the face of eternal duty). This version has no upbeat, poppy tune in the background. It's only Minako's voice: rawer and more regretful than she's ever heard in one of her songs.

 _"Massugu mitsume_

 _Saigo no kisu wo shite_

 _Arukidashite ne"_

The ringtone cuts off in the middle of the song, and Rei's already staring at Minako.

"Why am I the song about duty over love?" she asks quietly.

Minako clears her throat. "Because...I picked duty," she says meeting Rei's eyes. "And thus, I can't have love. It's a distraction." She swallows hard. "The song...is a reminder."

Her hand goes to her phone to take off the table.

But Rei reaches out, and stops her, grabbing Mina's hand in her own.

"I think… you're forgetting," she whispers to Mina. "We have the same duty...the same fears, goals, responsibilities. It -" she stammers "When two people have the same duty...they aren't distractions to eachother...they can be support."

Minako's hand is too warm in her own, and sweaty...or perhaps that's hers. Her heart's pounding a bit too loudly in her ears. Minako's eyes are so blue...

The kettle shrieks in the kitchen, and she bolts up to get it, rushing from the room.

Usagi and the others have arrived by the time she returns, separating she and Mina with books, pens and laptops spread over the table. But occasionally she'll catch Mina's gaze as she looks up and she knows: they won't be sweeping what was said under the rug for long.


	3. Duty Bound

AN: TweekinTinkaToy said the last oneshot was a bit more of a cliffhanger than they had bargained for. Thus, I felt obliged to speed up this one-shot's publication date. Afterall - I love Reinako. And I needed to see them get together too. This focuses on Mina, I'll do more Rei centric things in the future of course, but Mina was the one with the most to work through in terms of getting together.

This includes some details from Third First Breaths, but it is completely understandable without having read that, provided you've read/watched Sailor Moon through to the end of Stars of course...

Disclaimer: This is not published canon. I mean WE ALL KNOW Reinako is DEFINITELY canon. But this particular work is only an imitation. Because Alas, I am but a wee fan with too much time on her hands and too much work to procrastinate on...

 **Duty Bound**

She had slipped out when the cleaning up had started: Makoto insisting on doing all the dishes, and Rei and Mrs. Tsukino fighting with her over the chore; Usagi and Chibiusa scrambling for the last few scraps left in the serving dishes; Ami, Ms. Mizuno, Mamoru, and Mr. Tsukino laughing all the while; and Shingo, amid all of it, trying his best to talk to Hotaru without blushing and tripping over his words – Setsuna, Mr. Tomoe, Haruka, and Michiru looking on with a range of expressions from wary to amused while they all talked quietly in the corner.

Haruka had caught her eye as she slipped out and nodded at her. She wasn't going to bring it up…or tell Artemis on her. She supposed the Senshi of the wind knew better than most the need to escape every once in a while.

The air was bitter cold, it seemed to freeze in her lungs as she breathed it in, but she walked out into the lightly falling snow anyways – hands stuffed into her pockets to ward off the chill.

Her parents weren't here…her first night back, alive, after the fiasco with Galaxia and the Galaxy Cauldron…and her parents and sister weren't here at the celebration.

 _I mean it wasn't like I invited them_ , Mina thought, _and not like I want my mother here anyways given how she took things…this morning._

That was really the crux of it, Mina sighed, staring for a long while up at the full moon. _Of course it's a full moon, how freaking auspicious._ Her parents weren't here because…well…they hadn't taken things as well as the others.

Ikuko Tsukino had made Usagi and Chibiusa pancakes this morning – and that even _after_ learning Chibiusa was her freaking granddaughter. And Shingo had thought it was all so "cool." Mr. Tsukino had asked question after question after question – never once flinching at the less than amusing details of having a daughter amongst the ranks of the Senshi.

And Mr. Tomoe – who, granted, still seemed to be processing the information – was surprisingly mellow about his daughter being the senshi of death. It was only her adoption of the Outer Senshi as parental figures that he seemed to have a problem with.

Ami and Rei hadn't even had to _tell_ their families for goodness sake. Ms. Mizuno and Mr. Hino had already freaking guessed the reason the girls had disappeared for four months.

 _Makoto doesn't even have to tell anyone since her family's dead_ , but Mina smacked a hand over her face at the thought. _She'd more than happily have her parents back regardless of whether they took it well – freak sake, Aino, get a hold of yourself._ She breathed in a deep breath of the chilly December air and closed her eyes, tilting her head up and letting snowflakes fall across her eyelids.

She had five texts from her mother on her phone:

 **-Come home & explain. How long have you been keeping this from me?-**

 **-I told your father – he is concerned. -**

 **-This stops now, right Mina? You're done? Not a word of this to your sister okay?-**

 **-Is this what's been holding back your career, sweetie? -**

 **-I've thought about this all day, Minako. It's okay. We don't have to talk about it. Let's just move on. Back to normal. I've got a new round of auditions for you on Monday. :) -**

 _Two years ago I would have jumped on this chance,_ she laughs. _Traded in the transformation wand for a microphone in a second – I did, as a matter of fact…I mean I'd forgotten I was a Sailor, but still…I was more than happy to go along with how it used to be._

 _Has being a Sailor really changed me so much?_

She'd been acting since she was old enough to walk and dance across a pageant stage. And sure her mother and father could be quite demanding about her career, but she'd never had a problem with it before.

 _Maybe it doesn't help that she boxed up all my stuff and tried to have Kara replace me as the actress in the family_ …she reasoned with herself. _But I don't see why I'm so hung up about auditions._

She couldn't remember much of death…only that the realm within the Galaxy Cauldron had been warm, and bright, and peaceful…and though she had been trapped there, and incorporeal right up until the end, she had not been afraid. She had not felt stress or anger or worry. She had merely drifted, content. _When was the last time I felt content._ She laughed. _I can't think of it_.

Granted…there had been no excitement there either…no happiness…no joy. And she wondered idly if death was like that normally or if the dark and violent circumstances of her own had led to that particular realm of stillness.

Waking up…tasting air…had been such a shock this morning…but more shocking than that had been remembering the feeling of being in the cauldron – the enormity of it – all those lives and hopes and dreams packed in together. And she could understand how beautiful it was once Chaos corrupting influence had been purged from it.

The cauldron had no ending naturally…and its beginning stretched as far back as the universe itself. _This is the place where stars are born_ , she remembered being told, though by whom, she could not remember.

It was strange to think…the cauldron had long ago created her too – her planet, her soul, and her purpose…

 _And if I'm alive again, I still have a purpose to fulfil._ She sighed, staring up into the endless night sky. _They're all fooling themselves if they think things will become normal. We exist to maintain normalcy…not have it ourselves._

There were things she wanted, goddamnit, from life - that she could not have. _And perhaps knowing that makes the whole enterprise of acting seem a little bit tedious,_ she reasoned back to the her initial frustrations with her mother. _It's just more pretending… pretending to be normal people, pretending to be normal old Aino Minako…_

And her mother was well and good when everything was normal, but, she swallowed the lump in her throat, normal wasn't something she had patience for anymore.

 _She wants me to be done_ , Mina thought, clasping both hands together under her chin. _But how do I tell her…all of them really…that I never will be. Truly, I never want to be. It wouldn't feel right leaving the fighting to someone else when all my friends are still in the thick of it._

 _It's my duty…_ she hung her head. _I've accepted that, I find meaning in that… can I still be frustrated by all the things it means I cannot have?_

 _Does that mean I have to chose between my mother and my duty...forsake family like I forsook love?_

A light crunch on the snowy temple steps broke through her thoughts. "Go away Artemis," she called out. "I'm fine."

"Clearly you're not," said a voice that was decidedly _not_ her cat's. She whipped around. Rei was making her way down the temple steps, a thick coat over her robes. And she was carrying…a blanket and two steaming mugs.

"What are you trying to do…freeze?" she chastised, walking nimbly across the snow and kneeling next to Minako. "Here, take that."

Minako wrapped numb fingers around the steaming mug Rei had thrust at her and looked away as the senshi of fire settled the blanket around her before taking a seat on the steps beside her and bumping her shoulder. "What's up – and don't say nothing?"

Minako sighed. "I've been thinking…did you ever wonder if there'd come a day…when we were done fighting?"

Rei hummed next to her, shifting until her leg brushed against Minako's cold one. "I don't think I did…but I guess it's a bit different for me – always seeing the next disaster coming." She sipped her tea. "But…we're not fighting now. Nor will we tomorrow…and Usagi seems very sure we won't be fighting for a while longer. Seems the universe is so full of positive energy right now it can't sustain anything too nasty."

Mina nodded. "I used to wonder – after the Dark Agency – whether I'd get to return to being normal. And I stopped after a while. I mean, it wasn't exactly useful to think of all the normal things I could be doing…but I always hoped…" her voice seemed to get caught in her throat as her words became jumbled.

"I don't know what you remember of the Galaxy Cauldron," Rei said after a while. "But I remember the moment Usagi saved it – Chaos was completely banished and all this energy was released back into the universe – stars were literally reborn – all these bright lights replacing everything that Galaxia had killed. And…and as we were all coming back together and celebrating…I felt _it_ become reborn too."

"Chaos." She said sharply, her head jerking up to look at Rei. "Did it come back to Earth? Possess another sailor? Did it –" Rei's warm fingers were suddenly pressed gently over her lips, and her friend's violet eyes were staring into her own.

"Stop," Rei said, warm breath tickling Minako's face. "It was reborn…just like everything else, and just like everything else it will take millennia for Chaos to become as powerful as it was before. And when it's back at full strength, It won't just have one ragtag team of Senshi from the corner of the Galaxy to fight it back - all those others like us are being reborn too. And they'll be just powerful and just as able to stand together against chaos when that time finally comes again."

Minako smiled as Rei's fingers fell from her lips. _At least that's one thing I won't have to worry about next time_. "Sorry... But chaos wasn't the only evil out there?" Rei nodded along as Minako spoke. "I felt others too – Metalia and the Death busters and enemies others like us fought and enemies no one has ever faced yet…and I just felt like, no I _knew_."

"That we'd never be done," Rei finished her thought for her.

"We never will," Minako echoed. "I _knew_ , and I think I knew before all of this and I just let myself pretend there'd be a future without all this fighting…but I was stupid and I just feel…"

"Like you're thinking too hard," Rei smirked.

"Hey,"

"Look, fearless leader," she teased. "You told me when I started having visions about Chaos that we'd beat it just like everything else…so I'm telling you, we're going to beat every demon that comes after it."

"it's not that," Minako shakes her head. "I know we'll win. We've go me after all." She tried to joke, but Rei barely smirked. So she continued on more seriously. "It's everything else. I can't be the star my parents want if I'm always fighting evil. And I feel like acting is a chore now since I do so much of it in my real life pretending everything is normal…and I can't ever be a normal high school girl. I won't ever have a normal career. And I certainly won't have…" she bit back the last part of her rant. Rei got the point.

"You're ridiculous."

"Hey!"

"No I mean it," Rei elbowed her. "Who says you can't have a normal career. You're going to be Neo Queen Serenity's leading guard. I guarantee you'll get a decent salary from that. And she'll have you be the one dealing with the press – that's plenty of time in front of the camera and you get to say exactly what you really think…there's really not many years left that we have to hide our powers. Usagi's going to take the throne in less than 10 years now."

"Shit."

"I know, we don't have long to train the clumsiness out of her." Rei said, and she laughed along with her picturing Usagi tripping up the Crystal palace steps. "And like I said…we do get a break for a while. So you do get to be like every other high school girl with no excuse not to revise for her exams."

"You're so comforting."  
"Aren't I," Rei laughed, leaning into Mina as they both gazed up at the stars – which seemed somehow brighter than they had before Rei had come out. "And…"

"Hmmm?" she wondered, glancing towards her friend.

"And love…" Rei whispered. "You didn't say it…but you can have love too."

"That…that's a nice thought." Mina said. "But I don't ever kid myself about that – you know. Love would be a –"

"Distraction," Rei said. "I've heard it before. It wouldn't be…"  
"Rei,"

"No, listen," she said. And as Mina pulled away from her, preparing to argue, the fire senshi grabbed onto her hand. "You can do your duty and have love. If you'd just give it a chance."

"I –" she bit her lip. Rei's hand squeezed tighter to hers. "We've talked about this before Rei."

"No, not really." Rei laughed. "We've talked around this…and away from this, and about everything but _this._ But you have never come right out and said it to me…and I'm tired of waiting."

"huh?"

"I was waiting for you to come to your senses. Ace was wrong, Mina. You can do your duty and have love – look at Haruka and Michiru."

"I can't"

"You've never tried," the fire senshi huffed. "Look - I just died. And I get another chance, again. And you know what?"

"What?" Mina whispered, unable to look away, and unwilling to…

"I'm tired of letting destiny dictate what I can and can't have." Rei continued, and her other hand brushed across Minako's face, cupping her chin. "And I was waiting for you to figure that out too. But you're still so stubborn."

"Rei…" Minako stuttered.

"Please, just give this a try." Rei whispered.

And without more preamble, she felt Rei's hair fall across her forehead and had just enough time to set her tea down on the steps as Rei pulled her in for a kiss.

Fire roared within her, warming her better than a blanket and tea ever could, as Rei's lips caressed her own. Mina grabbed onto the sleeves of Rei's jacket as the blanket slipped from her shoulders into the snow. She held perfectly still for the longest time, just holding Rei close as she continued to kiss Mina fiercely. After a few long moments she felt a tear splash across her cheek and the fire senshi begin to pull away.

"Sorry…" Rei began to stutter. But Mina pulled her back towards her, wiped the tear from her face, and held her gaze.

She had given so much to her duty…wasn't it time she did something for herself.

Her hand wound its way into Rei's hair as she leaned into her.

"I do love you," she whispered. And Rei sighed, shoulders sagging in relief, as Mina kissed her back.


	4. Human Day One

AN: This one's been on my mind a while, I had to break it up into several parts though. Here's how I imagine the outer senshi's first morning as one team. Expect more. I love their relationship so much!

Disclaimer: blah blah, renounces rights or whatever, blah…

 **Human Day One**

Haruka and Michiru sleep in an unusually long time the day after the final battle with Eugeil. So long, in fact, that Haruka misses three calls from her manager about why she was not at the track that morning. And she knows Michiru is bound to have similar calls in waiting from the director of Mugen's student orchestra. She groans, tapping out a hasty text to her manager saying she's caught a nasty flu and then a similar text, which she reviews twice over for errors, to Michiru's director.

Her phone displays the time as being 9:45 in the morning. _How the hell did we sleep so late_ , she thinks as she sits up and winces. _Jesus-eff, that smarts._ Her hand goes to her side – which is definitely still burnt and bruised from yesterday's fight. She carefully throws back the covers and rolls out of bed. She's still in yesterday's clothes. Carefully, she peels off the wrinkled shirt and examines her abdomen. Bandages.

"When did I remember to do that," she murmurs. Whenever she did, she managed to do a much better job than usual. The bandages covering her many burns and arrow wounds are neat and evenly wrapped; they're even tapped in a way she swears is professional. She checks on Michiru. There's bandages visible on her arms wrapped much the same way.

 _Of course_ , she realizes, smacking her face at her own stupidity. _It was Pluto._

She'd been so exhausted after the time guardian had appeared that she barely remembers her saving them and then helping them home. She pieces together the rest of yesterday as she dresses. After co-piloting their helicopter home from the Aqua Cathedral, the mysterious time senshi had helped she and Michiru to their apartment, bandaged the burns and arrow wounds that riddled their bodies, and sent them off to bed.

 _Did she stay_? Haruka wonders as she finishes buttoning her fresh shirt. _We could use powers like hers if we're to prevent the destruction coming_.

She hadn't dreamed of it last night, she realizes. That's a rare occurrence these days. Especially as their interactions with the inner senshi become more frequent.

She goes around Michiru's side of the bed before she leaves. They have a rule: whenever one of them stays over, they never leave without waking the other. She considers it especially important on these mornings after battles.

She bends down carefully, minding her injuries for once, and kisses Michiru's forehead. "Love?" she whispers.

Michiru smiles and leans up, eyes still closed, to kiss her in kind. Then she winces, as the pain from her wounds registers, and swears. "Why aren't they healed yet?" she complains, sharp eyes scanning Haruka for injuries. "And how are you any better than me?"

"You took more arrows than I did," Haruka remarks. "Which we're going to talk about later," They're going to talk about the whole battle later, Haruka decides. She can still see Sailor Neptune diving in front of Eugeil to save her, crossing a veritable firing squad in the process. Yes, they're definitely going to talk about it.

"Much later," Michiru says, settling back onto her pillow. "Went I've slept more…what time is it?"

"Ah…" She checks her phone again. "10:13"

Michiru groans. "I don't have to do anything today right?"

"Not unless another enemy makes an appearance," Haruka says. "But you'll feel better if you eat… should I bring you something?"

"Tempting," Michiru smirks. "No I'll get up in a bit."

"Okay," Haruka says, stealing one more kiss before she leaves. "By the way, I love you."

"I love you too," she hears Michiru murmur as she closes the door.

As soon as she turns around, she jumps, spotting the strange woman on Michiru's couch. Her long green hair obscures her face and trails all the way to the floor, and her lavender heels are still on her feet. She's wearing a matching lavender business suit that's severely rumpled from her night on the couch.

 _Sailor Pluto_ , Haruka realizes when she spots the henshin wand in the woman's pocket. _So you did stay._ Perhaps without meaning to, if the haphazard way she's fallen asleep is anything to go by.

She tip toes around the couch and through the living room to Michiru's kitchenette, slowly pulling a frying pan out from beneath the counter and then going to the fridge.

Michiru doesn't typically eat breakfasts. _Too busy_ , she always says. And it's evident from the selection in her cupboards and refrigerator. She picks out the rice and the carton of eggs (both more than half empty) seeks out anything else of value on the shelves: cabbage… and, she grins, a pack of sausages hidden in the very back of the bottom shelf. That will serve her nicely.

She's nearly done frying everything up when Michiru emerges from the bedroom in shorts and one of Haruka's shirts. Haruka meets her eyes and holds a finger to her lips, gesturing to the still sleeping time senshi on the couch.

Michiru nods, stifles a yawn with her hand, and makes her way over to the kitchen. She grimaces as she hops up onto the counter.

"You said you were going to rest," Haruka observes.

"I thought better of it," Michiru whispers, eyeing the frying pan. "Add two more sausages on to that."

"Thought you hated these,"

"Not when I'm this hungry," she yawns, and glances over at the coffee machine in the corner. Her eyes light up. "I knew I loved you for a reason" she hums, eyeing the coffee dripping into the pot.

"Don't get up and pour it yourself," Haruka says. "Not until you stop wincing."

"I'll be healed up by tonight," Michiru insists. "Besides, I can walk just fine. In fact…" She lifts one of her bandaged arms up to eye level and slowly peels away the wrapping. "Yes – the burns at least are all healed."

Haruka is about to respond when a gasp from the couch catches their attention.

~ _TTWWSTW_ ~

 _Pluto grips the garnet rod tightly in her hands as she takes in the red and black clouds overhead, generated by some massive black hole at the epicentre of the crumbling city. Slabs of stone riddle the ground along with bodies – shrunken, charred, and some completely fine save the sallowness of their skin and their unnaturally pale complexions._

 _Their hearts have been stolen, she realizes._

 _A deafening roar fills the space around her as the ground begins to rumble, rock and dust streaming up towards the clouds. She shouts as she spots the bright blue and red amongst the rubble – Sailor Mercury and Mars, and a ways off is Jupiter, in her dark green fuku, folded over a fallen beam. She doesn't see Venus, nor Neptune and Uranus. Nor…no…it isn't quite time for her yet._

Soon, _the ever-present awareness of time and its unchangeable events echos in her mind._

 _But it's all happening now? She thinks confused, sprinting through the rubble. She can see, within the black hole, a light growing brighter and brighter. It's time now_.

 _But her awareness of time is never wrong. She must surely be seeing things, for it continues to resound an unchanging_ Soon, soon soon. _Not now…soon._

 _Then how am I experiencing this? Unless…_

 _Unless I'm dreaming, she thinks. Just as she realizes it, the light within the black hole explodes outwards, silencing the roar in the air and overwhelming her vision._

She gasps, shooting upwards. She has been dreaming… but only those who slept dreamed…and in the time dimension she has no need to.

 _I fell asleep_ , she thinks, heart pounding. She never has, not in her entire memory of keeping watch over the doors. _How utterly irresponsible,_ she feels the need to confess this transgression welling up in her. As soon as she sees the Queen next she shall have to kneel before her and confess her failings. _She deserves a better guardian than me_.

"Well someone was sleepy," a low voice chuckles and Pluto whips her head around to face the intruder to the time dimension, then blinks once, twice, and rubs a hand over her eyes. _Oh._

She's in linear time: 10:45 JST, in Kaioh Michiru's residence, Juuban, Tokyo, Japan, Earth... She processes all this as she swings her legs over the edge of the couch and stands, using the back of the furniture piece for support.

The speaker, Uranus ( _no, Haruka_ ), and her companion ( _Nep…Michiru_ ) are both smiling warmly at her.

"Sorry," she says, voice hoarse. She clears her throat. _That's strange, does sleep always do that?_

"Do you want some tea?" Neptune ( _Michiru!)_ asks. "Or we have coffee as well."

"I've uh…never tried either," Pluto says, wrinkling her nose. Something smells… _good_.

"Get her coffee," Haruka says glancing up from something she's doing to survey Pluto. "She looks like she could use some."

"Why?" Pluto asks.

Haruka and Michiru both frown, looking at each other and then Pluto. "Yah know," Haruka shrugs. "Cause you just woke up, and you look tired…"

"I'm fine," Pluto rushes to say, releasing her hold on the couch. She struggles not to sway on her feet. "I do apologize. I didn't intend to fall asleep here…I had not considered the physical toll inhabiting the primary dimension would enta…" Haruka abruptly points a flat-ended cooking stick ( _a spatula_ ) at her and raises one eyebrow. "It's fine. It isn't like the enemy knows where we live," she trades a concerned look with Michiru. "Unless Eugeil told any others about our identities…"

"We'll just have to be on our guard," Michiru sighs.

"And I should still _be_ on guard," Pluto insists.

"Relax," Haruka says. _Pluto is weird_ , she decides. "We're human. Sleep is a requirement. As is food. D'you like eggs? Sausages?"

"Uhhh..." she considers, struggling to identify both words within her vast expanse of knowledge.

"Or have you never eaten those either," Haruka chuckles and turns to Michiru to see if it's gotten a laugh out of her too.

But Michiru isn't looking at Haruka. She's got her head cocked to the side as she takes in Pluto's wrumpled clothes…how she fidgets…how she's trained her eyes on the frying pan and is staring so intently at it.

"When's the last time you ate a meal?" Michiru asks.

"185,191 days ago…Earth days, I mean." Pluto says.

Haruka blanks "That's…ah..."

"507 years, four months, and two weeks ago." Pluto supplies.

"I eat five times a day," Haruka stammers.

All Pluto does is shrug. "Chibiusa came over for tea." And when neither of them can think of something to say for long minutes Pluto continues to explain. "It works differently for me – in the time dimension. I have no need of food…or sleep. In fact… and she looks down at the henshin wand. "I was… I mean I appeared here with this wand just yesterday. It is, to my extensive memory the first time I have retired my transformation since taking up my post. Perhaps an unforeseen consequence of dying via Time Stop…" her voice trails off as she realizes both Michiru and Haruka are staring at her with wide eyes. She feels herself blush. _Strange_. She identifies the feeling as embarrassment and reacts by squaring her shoulders proudly and lifting her chin. "So no, I've never tried eggs. They're a human food and I, unlike the rest of you, am the eternal senshi of time. So I am not human, not really."

 _She sounds so smooth and confident_ , Haruka thinks, trading a glance with Michiru _can she not tell how sad and… bullshit that sounds._ "Well you're human now," she says, plating up the food. "And these are delicious."

"Go sit at the table," Michiru directs, waving Pluto towards the small dining table by the wall. There are two chairs. "Take one, Haruka can borrow the chair from my desk." She decides, sliding off the counter and wincing. "I'll pour the coffee."

They're all seated in short order. Haruka is set on inhaling her food while Michiru approaches hers in a much more graceful fashion, both have one eye on Pluto as she picks delicately at the rice and eggs (having turned her nose up at the sausage). Each bite appears to renew the stunned expression on her face.

Indeed, Pluto considers the flavour in each bite thinking it's even better than the tea she once shared with Chibiusa. Has she ever truly eaten? _Of course I have…just too long ago now to remember._ The eggs are delicious. The rice is delicious. Even the cabbage, which seemed a bit droopy, is delicious. She longs to inhale it as Ur- _Haruka_ does. _But what kind of impression would that give…I am their guest. Indeed, I should play my role._

 _Eternal guardians of time shouldn't inhale their food._ She decides. And such pride is all that keeps her from racing Haruka through breakfast.

"So," Haruka says through a mouthful, leading Michiru to smack her. "You gotta real name."

 _A real name?_ "I have always been Pluto."

"Oh come off it, I've always been Uranus too but I'm Haruka when there's nothing to fight."

"And you're hardly Pluto now," Michiru says.

Pluto pauses, setting down her chop sticks, and considers. "When I awoke yesterday, I found a card in my pocket with an alias that I used to get around for the day." She pulls it from the pocket of her suit-jacket and passes it to Michiru. "But it's never been my name."

It's a national ID card. Michiru checks it over on both sides, as legitimate as her own. "Meioh Setsuna," she murmurs. "And it lists your birthday…as yesterday."

"Fine way you decided to celebrate," Haruka throws in "So this thing says you're…25."

"I'm a fair bit older than that," Setsuna scoffs. "I've guarded the time doors since the dawn of time, as I shall guard them until the end."

 _Christ, she's so serious_ , Haruka thinks as an awkward silence evelopes the table.

 _Even with our own destiny what it is, how can her fate be so cruel_ , Michiru thinks. Her hand seeks out Haruka's beneath the table. She's suddenly grateful for every one of the senshi injuries she's taken with her to school and practice if they mean she gets to be human while she suffers through them.

"Anyways," Setsuna says after a time, setting down her bowl and downing another large gulp of coffee. "Thank you for your hospitality…but it's time I returned to my duty," she says. And she rises from the table, pulling the henshin wand from her pocket.

"Wait!" Michiru says, "you can't have been away long, surely you should stay a bit longer."

"To help us with this enemy," Haruka suggests.

"It is a tempting offer," Setsuna says. "But truly I know not how long I have been away – I recently died in battle in the future and it seems I was reincarnated here. I knew I would have to be at the Aqua Cathedral to help you and did so – but I have been absent from the time doors for an undetermined amount of time and I do not know what evils will have taken root there in my absence.

"But…" Haruka protests. "How much trouble can a set of doors really get up to?"

She flushes when Pluto raises an amused eyebrow in her direction before Michiru steps in with her own more reasoned argument. "Then why were you reborn here."

"To help you,"

"Yes but as a senshi of time…surely you already knew you'd have to do that."

"It was one of my few confirmed interferences in linear time." Setsuna confirms.  
"Well then," Michiru gestures back to Setsuna's half finished breakfast. "Couldn't you have been reborn in the time dimension itself – or back in the 30th century – and still made it here.

Setsuna freezes, Henshin wand still clutched in her hand _yes why didn't that happen…surely it would have been far easier for Serenity to reincarnate me into her own time…_ "Um.."

"You may have been reborn here for a reason," Haruka insists. "Stay and be human for a while – we could use the help preventing the destruction that's coming and keeping Usako from meddling in it. We keep having these dreams."

"The Messiah of Death is approaching," Michiru says. "We need to prevent it…and we could use time on our side."

 _They have no idea_ , Setsuna says, at last returning her Henshin wand to her pocket. _They've no idea that the future Queen's integral to it all…or who the Messiah of Death is, and does…goodness they act like the inner senshi aren't even on their side._

 _Maybe I should stay…what good are the time doors if these times are much more turbulent. I should guide them_.

"Alright," she decides. "I can stay…just for a bit."

"Good," Haruka announces. "Then finish your breakfast Meioh-san"

It sounds strange from a fellow Senshi. "Call me Setsuna," she says, reaching once more for her coffee.

"Of course," Michiru says. "We should probably spend the day getting you set up here – my couch is certainly not a suitable residence and," Haruka spots the mischievous glint in her girlfriend's eyes and groans when she hears next. "Are those your only clothes?"

 _I'm going to need a bigger boot for the car this time_ , she thinks as Setsuna nods in answer. _She's going to drag us around half of Tokyo_.

But, she glances out the window. It's a beautiful day. And even if she's carrying shopping bags, at least she's human to appreciate it.

And Tokyo is huge, and bright and teeming with life, she smirks as she watches Setsuna finish off her coffee. Their newest team member is in for a hell of a culture-shock.

"So can you tell us anything about the future, Setsuna?" she asks.

The time senshi smirks. "Not a bit."

"Not even who wins the next football match-up?"

" _Haruka,_ " Michiru sighs.

"I won't help you gamble," Setsuna chuckles.

"I wasn't asking anything of the sort," Haruka lies, crossing her fingers behind her.

Her girlfriend then starts in on what Setsuna's favourite colors are, patterns, skirts verses trousers, and whether she's heard music before – _she hasn't_ – and seems to forget her injuries for the first time that morning. Haruka grins. Michiru clearly is excitedto have Setsuna around.

 _She's still weird,_ Haruka decides. _But it'll be fun teaching her how to be a person._


End file.
